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Princeton University creates bionic ear

Princeton University creates bionic ear

Princeton University graduate student Manu Mannoor, left, and Ziwen Jiang, a student from Peddie High School in Hightstown, N.J., prepare to use a 3-D printer, in Princeton, N.J. The scientists at Princeton University have created an ear with an off-the-shelf 3-D printer that can "hear" radio frequencies far beyond the range of normal human capability.

Princeton University creates bionic ear

In this Thursday, June 27, 2013 photo, Princeton University graduate student Manu Mannoor holds up a culture medium, in Princeton, N.J., in which cells grow that will form cartilage tissue after a bionic ear is printed on a 3-D printer. Mannoor is one of the scientists at Princeton University who have created an ear with an off-the-shelf 3-D printer that can "hear" radio frequencies far beyond the range of normal human capability. The researchers used 3-D printing of cells and nanoparticles followed by cell culture to combine a small coil antenna with cartilage, creating what they term a bionic ear. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Princeton University creates bionic ear

Princeton University graduate student Manu Mannoor holds a bionic ear as another is printed on a 3-D printer in Princeton, N.J.

Princeton University creates bionic ear

Princeton University graduate student Many Mannoor, left, looks on as Ziwen Jiang, a student from Peddie High School in Highstown, N.J., makes an adjustment to a 3-D printer.

Princeton University creates bionic ear

Ziwen Jiang, a student from Peddie High School in Highstown, N.J., watches as he prepares to use the 3-D printer.

Princeton University creates bionic ear

In this photo a bionic ear rests in a petri dish.

Princeton University creates bionic ear

Ziwen Jiang, a student from Peddie High School prepare to use a 3-D printer.

By KEITH COLLINS and KATHY MATHESONTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PRINCETON, N.J. — Researchers at Princeton University have brought a new tool into the realm of cybernetics: a 3-D printer.

The scientists have devised a way to produce an ear-shaped chunk of silicone mixed with bovine cells and infused with tiny particles of silver that form a coiled antenna. Like any antenna, this one can pick up radio signals that the ear will interpret as sound.

The 3-D ear is not designed to replace a human one, though; the research is meant to explore a new method of combining electronics with biological material.

“What we really did here was actually more of a proof of concept of the capabilities of 3-D printing,” said Michael McAlpine, the professor who led the project. “Because most people use 3-D printing to print passive objects — things like figurines and jewelry.”

After it’s printed, the 3-D ear is soft and translucent. It is cultivated for 10 weeks, letting the cells multiply, creating a flesh color and forming hardened tissue around the antenna.

Manu Mannoor, a graduate student who worked with McAlpine on the project, held up a petri dish in a lab at Princeton last week to show how the process works. The dish was filled with liquid and a partly cultivated ear, and Mannoor said the cells were secreting a matrix, the space between cells that exists in organisms.

“They make their own living space,” Mannoor said.

McAlpine and his team demonstrated the antenna’s ability to pick up radio signals by attaching electrodes onto the backs of the ears in the printing process. When they broadcast a recording of Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” to a pair of fully cultivated ears, the electrodes passed the signal along wires to a set of speakers, and the music flowed out clear and without interference.

Although the new research is just one iteration in the field of cybernetics — an area that looks at combining biology with technology — McAlpine said the research could lead to synthetic replacements for actual human functions, and to a sort of electronic sixth sense.

“As the world becomes a more digital and electronic place, I think ultimately we’re going to care less about our traditional five senses,” he said. “And we’re going to want these new senses to give us direct electronic communication with our cellphones and our laptop devices.”

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